Neil Diamond Says He Has Finally Accepted His Parkinson’s Diagnosis: ‘A Calm Has Moved In’

“I have to make the best of it, and so I am,” the music legend says of his Parkinson’s diagnosis, which he disclosed in 2018, in an upcoming interview on CBS Sunday Morning

Neil Diamond is coming to terms with having Parkinson’s disease.

In an interview set to air on CBS Sunday Morning this weekend, the “Hello Again” singer, 82, shares that it has only been “in the last few weeks” that he has accepted his diagnosis, which he first made public in 2018.

“But somehow, a calm has moved in, and the hurricane of my life, and things have gotten very quiet, as quiet as this recording studio,” he tells reporter Anthony Mason. “And, I like it. I find that I like myself better. I’m easier on people. I’m easier on myself. And the beat goes on, and it will go on long after I’m gone.”

The singer retired from touring five years ago, but that hasn’t stopped him from reaching out to his devoted fans.

“I’m still doing it. And I don’t like it. But the … this is me; this is what I have to accept,” he says in the interview. “And I’m willing to do it. And, OK, so this is the hand that God’s given me, and I have to make the best of it, and so I am. I am.”